The Ride Legacy
by The Winged Pyro That Drowned
Summary: Set after Nevermore. I haven't read it yet! The Apocalypse has struck, and Maximum Ride must lead the survivors into a new world; now with kids of her own. Just how much trouble can one 15yr old princess of the world get into? What will her powers be? Who will betray who? Read on to find out! New friends and new enemies wait. Triplets? oh dear...
1. prologue

**A/N: this chapter is being rewritten cos it sucks. ok? the rest of the story is a lot better.**

**The Ride Legacy**

**Prologue**

What happened? After losing Angel, Max just couldn't take any more stress. The flock and Fang-gang were still searching through the rubble when Max finally broke down.

She had sat on a piece of wall and cried, muttering about how she shouldn't have let Angel spy on the Doomsday group. Fang tried comforting her, but Max went into a rage and almost killed him. Dylan tried singing, but it didn't work like it had before. I think Max might have some old Viking Berserker blood in her somewhere. Anyway, the strong girl had to slam her into the ground and knock her unconscious. I'm not sure what happened after that, but after going back to find Ella, there was even more trouble.

Ella was still a semi brainwashed zombie, but with wings. The fast girl did the "Scream of Sanity" while running around Ella. Max was still depressed. Having Ella back just meant she got reminded about her mom missing a lot more. _'Max… The world is in chaos, and the Doomsday Group are causing most of the trouble, but all the Gen-77 kids want freedom; that's why they follow the cult.' _Max's Voice was right, the kids wanted freedom without restraint. But Max knew there would need to be laws, governments and such after the apocalypse. But what was the apocalypse? The poison gas seemed to be the only viable cause so far. _'The end of the world is coming, soon.' _The Voice had said, _'Only you will be able to restore order. Jeb and Dr. God were right you know. You need a dynasty, a legacy. Something to continue on, even when you no longer live.' _I haven't been told anything about how Max went through with saving the world, and I'm not sure I want to know, but I'm thankful for one thing.

Sometime near the end of the adventure (in the middle of a make-out session with Dylan, ((eww!)) somewhere in Europe), she said the greatest thing ever: 'Dylan… Bah! Screw it. I'm going to Germany.' And so they went and, uhh, did you know what… but the flock only had a couple of happy days in Germany before they teamed up with the Fang-gang again and got rid of that so called 'One Light'. Then there was the Apocalypse.

Meteor showers. Most were small but the planet got bombarded for almost a year straight. The bigger meteors didn't do the most damage through impact, as many would have thought, but instead it was the heat that was the main killer. The ground dried out quickly, and the surface became more and more desert like and time went by. Underground cities were formed, and sea levels rose by about 15 meters, it would have been 20 but the asteroids were hot enough to evaporate 5 metres of it. Lots of land was lost, but there were heaps of earthquakes. Maybe in hindsight the underground cities weren't such a good idea. They got flooded and tended to collapse in the quakes. Amazingly, the internet and most wireless connections still worked long after the Apocalypse.

What was left of the world was just a burnt out carcass. Shells of buildings and wreckage of civilisation littered the landscape. So this is the new DC.

Welcome to the wastelands.

**disclaimer: i dont own maximum ride... or the flock... but i named the fang-gang! i think... but i dont own them either. i own nothing but a thrilling prolouge at this point. im rambling, i have shugar rush :D**

**sorry if this chapter is crap, but dont worry, the rest of it is a lot better; i just had to set down a bit of history, you know?**

**review! tell me what you think! **


	2. Chapter 1

Legacy – ch 1

'Hunter! How've you been?' Jerry reached his arms out for a hug over the bar. 'Just fine, Jerry,' I gave him a hug. We hadn't seen each other for a couple of weeks. 'Mom's just finished the conference in the old Washington DC and things have been a little hectic.' I told him about my recent trip through the new world. Being a president's daughter can actually be kinda hard. At least I got away with a few more things than normal 15 year old girl.

I hadn't actually been around for the old one; my mother, Max, really had managed to save the world with a baby on her hip. As it turns out, the world saving wasn't through getting rid of homicidal Whitecoats but through leading the survivors into the new world and creating order out of the chaos. I was named Hunter because whenever I set my mind to something, I got it done. I had a tendency to go hunting for things.

My father Dylan died saving the rest of the flock. He held up a collapsing wall just long enough for the rest of the flock to escape before the place exploded. We never got a chance to meet. Nudge told me that the stress of losing Dylan had almost caused a miscarriage, but thankfully new the Apocalypse had come out and Mom had to think about other things.

Fang and his group had then left for some other place. I don't know where they went but Maya stayed with Max after she heard that she was going to be an aunt. Auntie Maya. They had agreed to say that they were twin sisters which, all things considered, was completely true: now that one of them was pregnant it didn't seem right to call Maya a clone.

Jerry wasn't always a bartender. He was in his early twenties when the flock met him. Now he was in his early forties and running a bar in the middle of Wasteland DC. Built like a trucker, he was like one of those bug burly guys who knew all the best restaurants in town. The gun shop out back was also his, but he had a special licence from Mum.

He had tried training in medical but he didn't have enough money to complete his degree, so he was a midwife sort of person for a while, and helped Mum get through life pregnant. I was born in the middle of the Apocalypse, in a natural cave somewhere. I used to have brown eyes, brown and white wings and golden blond hair before the Incident. My wings weren't retractable like the others; I had to keep the out all the time. I looked like an angel.

Now I had dark, blood red hair and eyes, and my wings were different shades of a dark golden red. Now I looked like an angel of war. The Incident was when I was little and I can't remember it, but Jerry knew the story quite well. I had been hunting for something golden (I didn't know it was gold at the time, just that it looked so pretty), and had found a line of red fire ants carrying things. One of them had taken a golden bracelet and I had chased after them, crawling along rocks and other things. I had grabbed the bracelet and the ants had attacked me. Jerry was calling out my name and searching for me when he stumbled across my body which the fire ants had dragged away. In my veins there was a mix of radioactive fire ant venom and my alternated blood. Max said that my body should be burned, like it was done for kings of old. But strangely, when my body was put in the fire, I woke up. My eyes had changed, and my hair was already a dark blond colour, but the fire had changed me. Thanks to those stupid fire ants, I was immune to fire; I could walk through without feeling a thing. The fire made me stronger, I seem so much better when I'm on fire. After that my wings and hair colour had slowly changed. I've looked like I do now since I was 5. I was only about 2 when I died.

The flock plus Jerry emerged into the new world. What was an underground cave system had become tunnels in a hill; the earthquakes had changed everything. Under that mountain there was a huge fresh water reservoir, but it had fish so I suspected it may have been a lake in pre-apocalypse earth. The city, or what was left of it, was right next door to us. Skyscrapers that had been brutally destroyed littered the landscape. There was one area which still seemed to stand proud, but even this one little piece of paradise hadn't escaped as well as we had. As soon as we had arrived, people flocked to the area from far away.

The city had become known as Wasteland DC because it was like an oasis in a desert and the last capital had DC in it. I still don't know what it stands for. Rules were made, people sorted out, shade sails were put up, and civilisation was more or less restored. The shade sails were put up because the sun seemed so much stronger than it did before, and some people were more sensitive to the light than others. Because the earthquakes never seemed to go away completely, so people who couldn't fly were only allowed to live among the first six floors of a building; you had to be able to fly to go any higher. Well, a non flying could live higher but only at their risk, which was very much a danger. Most members of the new society were Altered, some could fly, others could run forever; all had their powers and abilities. Erasers were back too. A local Whitecoat turned good guy had decided that they would be good for peacekeeping and as a general workforce. Mom got really annoyed at the fact that a Whitecoat had survived, but when he showed that he'd managed to get rid of the Erasers raging bloodlust and taught them to restrain instead of kill, she had let them into the city.

A wall had to be made in order to stop people from running around outside the city boundaries and to stop some of the horrors outside from getting in. The wall looked like a huge pile of rubble, but it was very secure. It stretched around the city, forming a menacing barrier to all. There were mutated animals outside, most of which were harmless, but a few were very dangerous predators. And the bug life was also different; fire ants had gotten awfully big, almost kitten sized. That's big for a bug. Spiders came in larger, more poisonous forms too; tarantulas the size of a Jack Russell, which I'm told, is a type of dog. Then there were the people: Rouges. The Rouges are what city livers called the people outside the walls who lived in the Wastelands without law or order. They were criminals that preyed on travellers for their food, water, supplies; pretty much anything they could take – leaving the souls to die in the ruins at the mercy of the wild animals. If the travellers weren't Altered, then they usually had no chance to survive unless spotted by the Patrols. Altered people often survived longer, but never thrived on their own.

You explored at your own risk.

A nearby university had managed to survive with a few casualties and joined Mom in rebuilding civilisation. New businesses where set up and general trade began again, allowing the new world economy to finally exist. Some of those businesses were scrap metal traders, paying good money to those brave enough to find them things in the Wastelands rubble. I worked for some occasionally. The MetalSmith-Armoury takes in any metal the scrap traders can't use and make it into stuff that's really quite amazing. If you ever want a nice sharp sword for slicing stuff, that's the place to go!

The rest of the flock got some new jobs: Nudge was considered the 'Media-Overlord' but was really just the communications minister. Gazzy and Iggy got to Demolitions Masters and supplied the weapons to our army – not that we actually have one yet (there's not enough people around to train like an army and most have their powers. It's just a matter of making sure they know how to use them). Maya was my Aunt and co-president of the new world: Max thinks with her heart and cares for the people, Maya thinks with her head and directs the expansion and problem solving part of the job. Angel was never found, but if she was, she would have rooted out assassins and countered diplomatic uprisings and stuff like that against Mom. Ella had wings now, and she took care of sorting out the Altered's abilities and powers (like finding out who is fireproof and who is super strong) as well as documenting it. Fang wasn't around so he didn't have a job. His blog was still running and I had a look at it sometimes. Its interesting stuff: he's sad he lost Maya and Max, but he's trying to contain order around the country at the moment.

'Hunter… Huuunnnter, wake up!' Jerry was shaking my shoulder. 'Huh?' Jerry shook his head and made and exaggerated sigh. 'Your eyes went kind of cloudy and you've been staring at the wall for the last five minutes. Zone out much?' he goaded. 'Nah, I was just thinking.' I said, shrugging. 'Well, let me know if your head starts to hurt,' he smiled and I laughed. 'Beer me, Jerry, I need a drink,' he was quick about it. The Rotten Oyster wasn't the best bar in town because it had a gun shop out back. 'So,' I said, sipping at the cold frothy beer, 'How's business been?' Jerry took a moment to wipe his sunglasses before answering. 'Fine, but there's a new guy who comes in a couple times a week,' I put the beer down. 'What's wrong?' I asked. 'He's an Eraser, but the problem is that he gets drunk and starts a bunch of fights. I've barely managed to replace my nice wooden furniture. And he threatens me if I decide to not serve him!' Jerry started cleaning the beer glasses and poured beer for a couple more people before he came back to me. 'I think he might be an old Eraser,' he whispered to me. 'What can I do to help? I'm sure I'll be able to do something,' I said. 'He knows I'm an Unaltered,' Unaltered people were the ones who were still 100% human, like Jerry. Since the Apocalypse, Unaltereds were much less common. The radiation from some meteors might have helped to change them. 'But you can't just kill the guy!' he continued, 'Maybe if you beat him in one the bar brawls he starts; he might stay away.' A plan was already starting to form in my mind. I gave him by best evil grin. 'Don't worry; I think I can handle an Eraser.'

**authors note;  
ok, sorry i havent updated in a week.. this chapter is definitly better than the prolouge, i hope. i'll try update more often.**

**review! tell me what you think! things can only get better!**

**disclaimer: i dont own anything from maximum ride, or maximum ride. i do have this epic storyline though ;)**


	3. Chapter 2

Legacy – ch 2

_Later – Midnight-ish_

You know, there is one particularly good thing about high metabolism; you recover from alcohol faster. You still stumble around, but your decision making isn't as impaired as it would be normally. Ah, the joys of being a drunk bird-kid.

I tried sneaking home, and I was pretty good at sneaking. So I was surprised when Mom and Maya found me tiptoeing down the hall in my socks. They were having a heated discussion about something to do with the Patrols and were going off to their rooms; down the hall I was in. As soon as I saw them I quickly dodged into the nearest doorway. But it was locked and I accidentally rammed into it head first. There was a big "Bang" as I hit my head and I bounced back, staggering to regain my balance. I fell on my back with an almighty thud, crushing my wings. Max and Maya stopped talking and looked at me for a moment.

'HUNTER!' Their two voices screamed at once, identical. That must have woken up everyone in the house! 'Watshup?' I slurred, trying to raise my head. Maya shook her head in that aw-not-again way and sighed. Wooden flooring is very hard. I finally managed to raise me head enough to see them. Mom rushed over to me and helped me up. 'Thanks,' I said, clutching at my forehead. Mom saw my face and looked alarmed. 'Maya, could you go get some ice? I think Hunter's going to have a huge black eye in the morning,' Maya turned away, trying to hide a smile. I didn't look that bad, did I? Mom sighed and the questioning started. 'What happened this time?'

I tried to remember. 'OK… I was at the Rotten Oyster, had a couple of drinks and played poker for a while,' Jerry has this free poker table; I managed to salvage a couple of packs of cards and a bunch of betting chips from the wreckage of a casino a while back. 'Then I had some more drinks before Jerry told me what the time was and that I should go home,' I continued. 'So how many drinks did you have?' Mom asked. 'Uhh, a few? Maybe? I can't remember. How's your day been?' I tried to change the subject, horribly. 'It's been fine. Now get on with the story; you were coming home,' she was getting annoyed. 'OK, OK. I was flying home and I saw this pigeon flying beside me,' I smiled as I remembered how funny it was: me flying with a pigeon! 'It came a little closer, so I flew away from it a little. Then it came a little bit closer and I went a lot further to the side,' I frowned, struggling to remember what happened. 'Hey Mom, you know that neon sign near the park? The one with the cactus picture on it?' Max thought for a moment. 'Yes, what about it?' she seemed cautious. 'Well, please don't laugh, but I, umm… kinda flew into it.' Mom dropped me and tried to smother her laughter. 'Ow! That hurt! You traitor, stop laughing,' I tried to get up again, and tried to throttle my mother. I was drunk so the best I could do was shaking her and getting myself dizzy. And that was the moment Maya chose to get back with the ice.

'Hey! What's going on you two? Cut it out!' Maya tried separating us, but Mom started laughing again. 'I'll get you!' I drunkenly launched myself at her and hit the door again. She started laughing even harder, amused by the fact that she hadn't moved or dodged in any way. Auntie Maya helped me up again and asked questions of her own. 'Why must I be interrogated? I didn't do anything wrong! *hic*' oh great, now I have the hiccups too. 'Hang on a second, why didn't you fly in?' Maya asked. 'I flew into the god damn neon cactus!' I yelled at her. By now Nudge and Ella were awake and coming down the hall. I suppose this day couldn't get much worse could it? 'What's going on?' Ella asked, annoyed that we had woken them up. '*hic*' I hiccupped. Nudge had a look at my back, 'Jesus, Hunter,' she seemed to be scared about something. 'Have you seen your wings? One of them looks broken!' she was yelling, and possibly hyper-, hyper-vent-ill-something. '*hic* No, I haven't seen my wings, but I couldn't fly home, *hic* I crashed into a neon cactus.' I said sarcastically. That got Ella laughing too, but Nudge was more concerned with my wings. 'Does this hurt?' she asked, yanking one of them. 'YES IT BLOODY WELL HURTS! *hic* STOP IT!' I screamed at her. I whirled around to punch her and hit the door. This time I broke something and it smashed open. I hope it wasn't Nick's room; he was really pissed last time I broke his door. Nope, it was Storm's room. _Oh, shit…_

Storm is my little sister. Nick is my big brother. We're all one big happy family; one mother, one auntie, and triplets. I'm the one in the middle, so I seem to get into the most trouble. Nick has black hair and brown wings, like an eagle. He seems to be into science stuff. He almost never leaves his room! It's like he's bored with the rest of the world.

Storm has long silvery grey hair and flecked gray wings, like an owl. Also, she seems to be able to control static electricity at will. Just don't go near her if her hair if floating; I tried that once and I got zapped with enough voltage to get blown through the wall. We fight more often than anything else. She zaps me, I torch her. Whoever said sisterly love was granted was an idiot. We do get along every now and then, but…

Anyway, I smashed her door, _again_, and now she's angry. I stagger in and fall into the fireplace. The fires still going but I don't notice. 'Hey, sis, how's it going?' I could see her hair starting to rise. 'Not so well,' she said, getting really pissed off. 'I've had things banging against my door, and then smashing the damn thing. Turns out it was my drunken sister. How has your night been?' Oh dear… she used her calm voice… that means I'm really in trouble…

Well, I've been in the fire for a good minute now. It feels good. Remember that saying "those who play with fire get burnt"? I'm not getting burnt, but I'm definitely on fire! 'great! I had a few beers, and flew into a neon cactus. Have you seen my broken wing yet?' I said, turning around so Storm and Nudge could see. The others will still giggling outside. I think they were sharing stories of other incidents when I was drunk. 'It doesn't look broken to me,' my sister was sceptical, hands on hips. Nudge was just staring at it. I really didn't know what was happening. After all, I was drunk, bruised, and standing in the middle of what must have looked like a bonfire. I tried to turn so I could see it, but the wing kept getting away. 'Hunter, stop spinning! You're making me dizzy,' Nudge never got dizzy; she was the party queen. I've seen her twirl around on the dance floor with more guys than anyone else. Then there was a huge pain in my shoulder. It felt like it was on fire! But I am on fire… ok; it felt like someone had tried to inject my shoulder with concrete. Either way, it _HURT. _I screamed in pain. I heard a clunk and the pain stopped. I fell to my knees and tried to get my breath back. It took me a whole minute. The fire went out, and I was cold. So cold, like ice…. I never felt my head hit the floor.

**A/N: ok, ive finished another chapter! getting interesting isnt it?**

**by the way... Fang's going to visit next chapter ;)**

**disclaimer; i own nothing but i do have claim to my epic storyline!**


	4. Chapter 3

Legacy ch3

I looked around the packed diner. Almost every seat was taken. But I couldn't sit in a booth with my wings out all the time anyway. Thankfully there tables for people with wings or tails set up like picnic tables with no back. There was one seat available, a tall tanned man with long black hair sitting opposite. The guy at that table looked kinda shifty, like he didn't like the crowds, like secret government sector shifty. And being the trouble magnet I am, I went over to say hi.

'Hi, is this seat taken?' I asked, trying to be friendly. The stranger looked up from his notebook.

'No, its fine,' he said, biting his toast and writing something in the book. I sat down and sprinkled some salt on my hash browns before digging in. I can't help it, I'm a chatty person, but he started the conversation. He looked up from his notes and looked at me.

'How'd you get that black eye?' he asked me. I gingerly touched it and winced.

'I was kind of drunk and flew into a neon cactus sign because I was busy watching a pigeon.' I explained. Everyone wanted to know how I got that humongous bruise on my face. He nodded, which surprised me.

'I've flown into a few things myself,' he said, extending his own wings. Not fully, but folded like mine. Enough to see, but that's about it.

'Really, like what?' I asked, very interested. He snorted and grinned at me with a funny sort of half-smile which made my heart skip a beat. I almost choked on my food.

'Well, I managed to miss the Hollywood sign by a couple of centimeters, and there was the seagull in Manhattan,' he said, making me laugh.

'So you know those places?' he asked me. How old did he think I was? I suppose I must look a lot older since I'm in my hoodie and cargo pants. Or was it the black eye?

'Kind of,' I answered. 'How old would you say I am?' I asked. He seemed surprised by the question but he hid it well.

'I don't want to be rude or anything, but, early twenties?' he guessed. Jeez, it must be the black eye. Or the hangover wrinkles from scowling at people who opened the curtains.

'I'm actually only fifteen,' I told him. 'You look like you might be in your late twenties, maybe mid-thirties?' he did that smile thing again.

'About 37,' he said. 'But I've only remembered about twenty of my birthdays.' He finished off his piece of toast and wrote down a few more things on the pad.

'I haven't seen you here before,' I told him. 'So why do you visit us here in the lovely Wasteland DC?' I asked him, inhaling my own food.

'Oh, just to see family, that sort of thing,' he said, waving his hand. I nodded.

'If you don't know where to find them, I'm sure Mom might be able to help,' I said, getting up. He got up and smiled.

'Lead the way, fair princess,' he made a small bow and waved his hand.

_Later_

'And this is where I live,' I pointed towards a large two-story U shaped building. There was a garden in the gap with a pool in the middle, surrounded by trees and building.

'Nice place, do you get many visitors?' he asked as he looked around.

'Not really, you're the first this week.' I said, climbing the steps. I opened the heavy wooden door and looked inside.

'Hello? Is there anybody home?' I shouted, walking in. Mom came around the corner and gave me a hug. Auntie Maya was at a meeting.

'Hey Mom, I found this guy, and he says he here to look for family,' I said, pointing at the guy (whose name I still didn't know). Max took one look at him and gasped.

'Fang, is that you?' she whispered, shocked. I took a step back and looked at him again. He seemed more shocked by the fact that Max was my mom than the fact that he had found her again. They continued to stare at each other.

'So who's going to fill me in on what's going on?' I asked, annoyed that I knew nothing. They continued to stare at each other. 'Fine, tell me later,' I walked up to my room and grabbed my diary, MP3 Player and headphones before heading back downstairs. I got back to the living room, listening to some techno music. I sat down in my favorite chair and looked through my diary. I had nothing else planned today, but I was going salvaging with Drake tomorrow. I wonder what Mom is doing. I looked up and had to dodge a flying fruit bowl. I ripped out the earplugs and screamed.

'WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!' I yelled at them. Mom stopped trying to beat up that guy she called Fang, and Fang stopped trying to defend himself with an umbrella. Where did he get that umbrella from anyway? I never did find out. Max looked at me and smiled.

'Nothing, Hunter, we're just sorting out a bit of history between us,' she said sweetly, meaning this Fang guy must have _really _pissed her off. I may not be tactful at times, but this was a new record for me:

'So who dumped who?' I asked, hands on hips. Fang risked taking his eyes off Mom.

'Well,' he started, but Max bashed him on the head with a cooking tray. Maya is a fantastic cook, but Iggy's better. We eat really well when they have a cook-off. I snapped my fingers a few times, trying to get their attention. It worked, but not how I planned it to. When I snapped my fingers sparks flew and sort of stuck to me. I was on fire, again. I looked at my flaming arm in wonder, tracing the bones with my fingers. I walked over to them, leaving flaming footprints. I looked at Mom.

'Hey, Mom, I'm on fire.' They both stared at me now. This is my first time on fire when I'm sober, I think. I barely felt the flames as they licked at my flesh. My clothes however were a bit different. They were trying to burn but something was stopping them, probably me. I silently prayed to whatever god had kindly thought to let my fire resistance keep my clothes fireproof too. Mom looked back at Fang and dragged him away by the ear. I was left to find out how I was supposed to stop being on fire all on my own. How the hell was I supposed to do that? I may be a miracle girl but… hmm, maybe if I went for a dip in the pool…

_About five minutes later_

Well, that worked. I jumped in the pool, on fire. There was a heck of a lot of steam and Storm's windows have fogged up. I walked back inside and heard Mom talking, stressed out. So I sneaked over to listen in on them. Fang seemed to be defending himself from a bunch of accusations.

'So where were you during the Apocalypse, huh?' Max yelled at him. Fang turned and picked up a picture. It was one with the whole family in it; Max, Maya, Ella, Nudge, Iggy, Gazzy, Jerry, Nick, Storm, and me, Hunter. It was taken a while ago, maybe when I was ten. He put the picture down and looked into Moms eyes.

'I was doing research with Bridgid. Investigating asteroid remains, that sort of stuff. If you could just see the stuff it does to insects-' he tried to say but Mom cut him off.

'I have. Fire-ants attacked one of my daughters and now she's a redheaded human torch!' she snapped at him. I'm glad she left out the drunk part- hang on, I told him that myself didn't I? Oops. 'And you just love redheads don't you,' she snarled venomously at him. 'How much longer till you tried to get in her love life? There mustn't be that many available angels these days, huh?' Mom started to leave. I should have picked a better hiding spot. But Fang stopped her. (thankies)

'Max, that's why I came here,' he said. Mom looked back and scowled.

'Let me get this straight. You came all the way to Wasteland DC, just to date angels?' she gave him a fake laugh. 'Sorry, but I'm already taken-' Fang grabbed her arm and pulled her close. He shook his head and whispered something in her ear. I strained to hear it, leaning forward a little…

'We found Angel.'

**Cliffhanger!**

**please review!**


	5. Chapter 4

**Hey guys, sorry its taken so long to update. I've been working on Maximum Ride at HIVE, and a new Maximum Ride/Gone crossover that once again involves our fantastic OC, Hunter! To make up for not updating, I've given you guys two chapters, extra long! :D R&R!**

Legacy ch 4

I slid another clothes hanger down the bar. Nope, nope, have I ever worn that dress? I was looking through my wardrobe to see what I should wear. So far all I had found was my red singlet and baggy black cargos. Currently I was staring a fluffed up white dress, possibly for a bride. I hope I hadn't gotten married when I was drunk, that would be too embarrassing. I shifted my dressing gown and continued to rummage through the clothes. Another dress… I should be getting worried now, but I oddly wasn't. I remembered setting myself on fire when I was drunk a few nights ago: the fire had healed my body and relocated my wing. Turns out it had been dislocated instead of broken. I also remembered Fang telling Mom that he'd found Angel. But since I couldn't ask either of them anything without revealing that I'd been listening in, I'd just have to wait. More cargos, another singlet, my favourite windbreaker… Hmm, I was supposed to be going metal salvaging with Drake and Anna, but I think I might need to go shopping instead. Maybe salvaging was a better idea. I haven't seen Drake or Anna for months!

School worked on an 'If-you-show-up-we'll-educate-you' system, meaning anyone who wants to learn can. It was mandatory to attend until 17, but this year was a bit hectic since there was a bit of a drought and a few of the teachers had gotten sick. So they had sent us out to see what it would be like for us when we finished school; get jobs, keep boredom at bay, that sort of stuff. I think they set it so we could see just how important our education was. So far I've been on a couple of diplomatic missions with Mom, one of which we found out I was not a born diplomat (I'll tell you later), and I've decided that the job I am probably best at would be fighting or salvaging. Storm was set to take over the world, and Nick was an inventor. Mom even had a new nickname for him; Da Vinci. So while they had Moms financial support, I had to make my own living. Salvaging gave good pay, and I was really good at it. I had enough money to get drunk and buy a new set of clothes if I wanted. The housing market was kinda dull, stretchy at best: let's put it this way, if I wanted to buy my own place, it would take a hell of a lot more than I have.

I pulled out a nice t-shirt and set it on the bed. It all looked nice, but I just had a bad feeling about today. I tried to have a shower. Hot water poured over my body, feeling fantastic for a minute, then all the strength seemed to drain from me. I dropped to the floor, gasping for breath. _What the heck was happening?_ Despite the hot water I was feeling cold again. Reaching up, I turned off the water. My wings were soaked (maybe I should have thought of that before having a shower… now I'm gonna have to walk); I looked like a drowned rat and I could barely get up. The water just sapped my strength like it wasn't there… I don't think I'll go out in the rain. Looking down on myself, I saw a lean girl, strong, agile. My long straight red hair flowing to just below the shoulder, tendrils snaking their way down my face. Despite being rather strong, it didn't look like it. After a while of getting my breath back I got up and dried myself off, got dressed, and headed out the door. The world felt very different today. I walked down the path and shook out my wings, trying to dry them off in the sunlight. Not very many clouds out today, but that's nothing new. The roads were full of people going places and setting up stalls. I'd forgotten it was market week. The Bazaar!

Every month there's a week where people will set up a giant version of a garage sale. Most things were bartered for, trading goods with each other, or money was spent. The currency we have is coins. There's everything that used to be used, like half a dollar to a hundred dollars. It stopped the problems of notes being burnt or torn, because the metal is a hell of a lot harder to mutilate. Food… that smells nice… my nose directed me to a fantastic stall: pies and sausage rolls on offer. And who was setting up the stall: none other than Drake, the guy who I was supposed to be going salvaging with in an hour. 'Hey! Nice stall,' I told him. He blushed and nodded. I think he has a crush on me.

Drake is part lizard. His head looks like it should be on a dragon; all fierce and bony. He has these huge scales all along his body, most of them about as big as the palm of my hand. Drakes jaw is elongated, a bit like a dragons jaw would be. He doesn't have hair, but he has horns and ears like sails. His legs have an extra joint in them, so they look like an angled Z. They go forward, knee, backwards, extra long ankle and then it finally gets to his talon toed feet. His forearm continues past the elbow with this bladed spike, just like on his ankles. His tail sweeps majestically, ending in this wicked sharp clamp like claw thing that seems to be slicing at someone's shoes. Drake's spine has these continuous fins like spikes running down it, even along the top of his tail. His hands, they were more like claws. The ends of his fingers had retractable talons, meaning he could rip off my face if he wanted to. But I knew he liked my face. All in all, he looked like a human dragon. His scales covered most of his skin, giving him this aged wise look. Neither of us knew how old he was, but he acted 16 so that's the age he adopted. Drake was an obsidian colour, blackish blue purple, and heavily muscled. I found it odd that he was a cook, but despite appearances, he was a gentle giant. But when the going got tough, he certainly didn't take it lying down; jeez could he fight.

The stall, a table, chairs, sign and cash box, was yet to be laden with goods. I could still smell them though, 'How much for one of your delicious pies?' I asked. Drake pulled one out of the warmer behind him. Still setting up, he gave it to me and smiled.

'For a pretty girl like you, just two bucks,' he was such a charmer. His deep, velvety voice was just _so_ alluring. I fished the money out of my pocket and went on my way.

'See you later!' I called, weaving my way through the stalls. He waved and continued setting up. I know he was trying to get me to date him; it's just its fun to mess with peoples heads sometimes. The pie was fantastic. Looking down the street, I could hear the bustling of people trying to get the first deals of the day. I could see people bumping into each other, some of them old friends greeting; long-time-no-see sort of thing. I adjusted the windbreaker a little; a couple of dried out feathers had gotten caught up. Pulling my wings in tight, I wandered further through the crowd.

This was getting very close to the east wall. The huge wall that was constructed around Wasteland DC covered the west, north-east, and eastern parts of the city. The south and north-western parts were covered by cliffs. The north-western mountain was where the water reservoir was hidden. The southern range was a set of mountains, very hard to get through. Along the western parts there was some grassland used for farming and agriculture. Out the east side was ruins. Basically, we were in the middle of a semi-desert with mountains. A bit like Vegas I guess.

Suddenly there was screaming. People rushing past me to get away from the wall. Someone knocked me over and trampled on my wing, breaking something. I screamed in pain, but nobody noticed. The crowd was starting to thin as the street ran out of people to run away. Cradling my hurt wing I slowly got up and had a look at what had everyone spooked.

Bodies. Some decapitated, some stabbed, others just ripped limb from limb. A huge man, big as a tank, more muscles than the hulk, stood looking at me. He was holding up the body of an eraser – an older model. Hey, that's the guy who was terrorizing Jerry! Well, I'm glad he's gone, but that thing holding him… it seemed to scan me, weird lasers coming from its shoulders. There were bolts in him in places too, like Frankenstein. It growled and walked towards me, lumbering like a giant. I ran.

I'm faster than an Unaltered, but I'm certainly not half cheetah. It seemed to have locked its focus on me, like it was a machine. Probably was. I'd seen it ripping the eraser in half as easily as if he had been made of paper. It even looked like the hulk; big, green, muscled, only wears pants, and must destroy everything in its way… I discovered that after trying to go through a thin alleyway. It bashed through the ground floor, debris flying everywhere. If only I could just fly away! Stupid hulk, why do you have to chase after me?

I sprinted through the streets, people not noticing anything odd (people often run through the streets having races for fun or to prove who's better. And there are messenger people delivering things… like pizza!), until the hulk came roaring down after me. Its arms seemed to be longer than its legs, so it looked rather ape-like. I thought about getting it away from the people, but it roared again and all I wanted to do was get away. I tried to hide behind a stone wall, but that only works in the movies. The constant thumping of its run got closer. Pure terror was screaming through my head.

'Hunter!' Storm! I saw her and Mom running out of some building.

The wall broke as the hulk smashed its hand into it, attempting to grab me. I got up, about to run, but it snatched me. It crushed my broken wing. Darkness was gathering at the edge of my vision. I went limp, passing out from the pain and lack of air. My body felt like it was burning, and not the good kind. The darkness claimed me…

Storm P.O.V.

I heard screaming. Then people were rushing past and grabbing at each other trying to get ahead. If it weren't for the screaming I'd say it's a mass marathon. Then my sister, red hair and awkwardly bent wing, sprinted past and around the corner. _What the- _

A giant green Frankenstein ape careened past the building and smashed through an alleyway. And all I could think was _she's gonna be in a world of trouble when Mom finds out._ It was true. Calling Hunter a pyromaniac would be an understatement. Hunter must have the worst record of any royal; she started drinking at 5, burnt down an old warehouse in the ruins, accidentally triggered one of Uncle Gazzy's larger bombs, which destroyed the nearest skyscraper, and she gets drunk every Friday. And now she had the hulk after her. Looks like politics lessons are going to have to wait.

'Hey, Mom, I think Hunter's in trouble again,' I warned her. She just sighed.

'What's she done this time?' Mom used the same tone that exhausted mothers around the world all use when they hear the news their child is in trouble with the police, _again. _

'Well,' I said, walking out the door onto the street, 'It looks like the hulk is chasing after her.' And then the most amazing thing happened: Hunter came around the corner and hid behind the wall just a couple of meters away from me.

'Hunter!' I yelled at her. She looked up at me, and time seemed to freeze. It felt like we had stared at each other for hours, but I knew it had only been seconds. Then the wall exploded and I got knocked off the stairway. I heard Hunter scream, and Mom yelling at the creature.

'Let, her, go!' Mom chucked a massive chunk of rock right at its head with deadly accuracy. The impact caused the giant to stagger and lessen its grip on Hunter. It slowly turned back to face Mom. Her face paled as she recognised it. But she stood her ground.

'Gozen…' she said. 'I distinctly remember kicking you into a hurricane. Have you been working out?' she sarcastically said to it.

The thing called Gozen shook its head.

'That model was inferior. I am superior!' it brandished its fist to the sky, challenging it to prove him wrong. Max was still pissed off.

'And where do you think you're taking her?' she asked, gesturing to Hunter.

'The School,' Gozen yelled, swinging his oversized arm that held Hunter around like an orang-utan. I heard a couple of snaps, and saw a rib poking out of her chest. I felt my hair lift as white fury blinded me. Time to throw rational out the window with a side of good decision making.

I stalked towards the massive creature, hearing sparks.

'If you've killed her,' I warned, 'you can expect a living Hell.' Gozen was about to say something to Mom, but I interrupted him with a blast of lightning.

A giant snake sizzled into life and coiled around Gozen, hissing and spitting sparks in his face. It laughed a horrible crackling laugh and discharged. Gozen didn't react. He just grunted and walked off without further argument. Mom sat down and gave up, crying into her knees.

'Storm… He killed Hunter.'


	6. Chapter 5

Legacy ch 5

WARNING: this scene contains violent horror, read at your own risk.

Hunter POV

I was strapped into some kind of hospital bed (yes, I've been there more than once) in a darkened room. I couldn't see walls and I couldn't move. I heard chainsaws. That big green hulk thing was back, but he was wearing a nurse's outfit and had a wig and make up on. WHAT THE HELL? Nurse Green-utang started poking around my stomach area, and I decided to look down. My guts were laid out on a table, and my legs were on a separate bed a couple of meters away, twitching. I screamed and screamed and screamed. I struggled against my bonds, but the "Nurse" decided to shut me up by strangling me with my lower intestines.

'Quiet. Stop struggling.' It said calmly in a gravely voice. I just screamed some more. I don't know what happened after that, but I was whole and free. Well, more or less; I was sprinting down never ending black halls dodging strange flying scalpels that kept slicing at me. I felt myself get cut a billion times, each slash leaving a streak of orange fire on the blades. I could not see an end to this madness. The screaming never stopped, and now I want the only one.

Cages. A room made from them, towering forever into the sky. In each cage, a mutant, a deformed human; a failed experiment. Maya often told me about the Schools, places where inhumane people would do inhumane things to humans, animals, even plants. I was still running ahead, trying to get away from this painful nightmare. I could see something in the distance, a bright light. Am I seeing Heaven?

Did I die?

I ran towards it faster than I've ever run before. I go a million miles an hour and it still takes forever to get there. The cages start to follow me. I see grotesque mistakes moaning and groaning and ZOMBIES! Oh god, oh god, oh god, I hate zombies! I could hear them breaking into the cages and eating the creatures inside. I could hear them getting closer to ME!

I as I look behind myself, I hit the light. It's solid; like a wall or a- NEON CACTUS?! What the hell is going on? Suddenly the cactus disappears, leaving me in the dark with the groaning zombies and the agonizing screams of the experiments. I curled up into a ball and just lay on the floor, waiting for the horror to end. But it didn't, I felt little hands and feet and pincers and bugs and larvae and flies and wings and spiders crawling all over my body. I was in a bug pit! I heard a hissing snake too, more than one.

Then I felt a hand on my shoulder and a voice in my head.

'Wake up!' The hand shook me, and the voice gave me a headache. I would have listened but the floor fell away and I was freefalling. My wings- for the first time, I noticed that they weren't there; like I was an ordinary human. So I fell. I couldn't do anything to stop it, so I just gave up. I stopped caring about everything.

Then I hit water. The bugs floated, and I sunk. I lay on its silky smooth bottom, staring up at the surface. I couldn't breath like I normally would, but I found I didn't need to. So I closed my eyes and my conserved my mind. The water wasn't making me weak like that time in the shower, but I felt myself draining away anyway.

So I let go.

Third person

'Crap, she's flat-lining!' a Whitecoat yelled, grabbing a syringe. His nearest colleagues just watched as the line of the monitor stopped doing the blip-blip-blip and turned into one flat line. Angel had been with them ever since Gozen had wandered off. She didn't trust the beast. The girl they had been operating on was now dead despite Angel trying to wake her up by shaking her shoulder. All the scientists looked disappointed at the mess of a person on the hospital bed. Angel was mourning her; one of the first winged children brought in by Gozen was now dead, gone. Any possible information on the outside world was lost.

'Send the carcass to the crematorium,' she ordered.

Storm POV

Mom had assembled the family in the lounge. There were a few couches, so enough seats for everyone. Hunter's favourite armchair, the one with the cut-out back for her wings, was empty. We had to somehow tell them what had happened to Hunter- that she was as about as dead as Angel.

'OK, everybody here? Me, Maya, Fang, Iggy, Ella, Gazzy, Nudge, George, Storm, Nick, Jerry, have I missed anyone?' Mom rattled off the list of family members. Everyone was here, including George, who was Iggy and Ella's son. The little boy had sparkling blue eyes and curly brown hair, meaning he was cute enough to be let away with murder.

There was a chorus of 'No' as everyone was there.

'Wait, where's Hunter?' Iggy asked. 'There's a lack of _red _in the room.' He said.

'Well, there's some good new and some bad news,' Mom started. 'The good news is that Fang has managed to find out the location of Angel,' she was close to tears.

There was a lot of 'Yahoo!' and general applause for the idea of finally getting Angel back.

'But,' Mom had to yell, 'There's still the bad news! Hunter was taken by a 'new and improved' version of Gozen. She was either taken to the facility where Angel is being held, or she's dead.' Mom let it sink in. Jerry was the first to talk.

'What about an attack? Get them both back, rescue anyone from this facility that needs it, and get rid of the Whitecoats once and for all!' He suggested. I was silent throughout the whole thing. I felt guilty, like it was my fault that Hunter was dead.

Maximum Ride started to cry. Storm Ride joined her. Hunter Ride was missing, presumed dead. Nick Ride was trying not to cry. Fang just comforted Max, steely eyed as ever.


End file.
